


Word for Word, I Stumble

by Moriavis



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Big Bang Challenge, Case Fic, Coldflash Big Bang 2016, Fairy Tale Elements, M/M, POV Character of Color, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, post-oculus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8130206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moriavis/pseuds/Moriavis
Summary: Back in Central City, Leonard works with Team Flash against a strange new opponent. It affects him more deeply than he expects, and there's more at stake than he realizes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> OMG, guys. OMG. This story was like pulling teeth. This originally started as a tumblr prompt earlier in the year, and I thought that the bang would be the perfect encouragement I needed to finish. I dragged until the very last minute, but I am here, finally, at the finish line.
> 
> Thanks so, so much to sperrywink, dungeonmarm, and saekhwa for their beta suggestions, and to dungeonmarm and saekhwa specifically for all the hard work they put into one scene in particular. (The rhyming, guys. YOU AMAZE ME.) They seriously made a mediocre fic into a much better one.
> 
> Also, a special thanks to my coldflash bang partner, moonlight-shipper-haven. I have been a terrible bang writer, and I hope I haven't spoiled her on bangs, because she's so awesome. I'll make sure to link her art once I've received it.
> 
> THIS IS DONE, YOU GUYS. I'M SO THRILLED.

~*~

Leonard woke slowly, splayed out across his bed, draped in warm blankets, and for a moment, he wondered where he was, why he was so comfortable. There was no hum of a ship, no sturdy and ultimately uncomfortable bunk.

He was in a bed. An actual bed. The sound of traffic in the streets came through the window, the dull white noise of a city in movement, and he smiled as he opened his eyes. He wasn't at his favorite apartment, but he was at one of his safe houses in Central.

It was nice to be home.

Leonard's phone buzzed on the nightstand, and he reached over, grabbing it and looking at the number. It was a text from Barry. How odd it was now, to think that so casually. A text. From Barry. _Hey,_ it read, _something weird's going on. STAR labs? We could use your help._

Leonard rolled on his back and stared up at the ceiling for a long minute. When he'd left the Waverider after the Hawks successfully killed Savage, he thought he'd go directly back to the life he'd left behind. He hadn't expected to be put on retainer for Team Flash, but he had never quite realized how hard it would be to say 'no' to the kid. Leonard wasn't much of a team player, but checking in with Barry every once in a while had softened their rivalry into something that might have been considered a cautious friendship. He closed his eyes and draped his arm over his face—he could hear Mick laughing at him from here. Spending time with the Flash had made him soft.

Still. Three months after leaving the Waverider, Leonard was exactly where he wanted to be.

Leonard thought about just not answering the text, thought about maybe putting the phone down and getting some more sleep, but then Barry texted _????_ and Leonard sighed.

 _Hold your horses. Give me an hour._

Leonard got a thumbs up emoji in return and then he set his phone back on the nightstand. He rolled out of bed, took a shower, and then fastened his helmet on before he drove his motorcycle toward STAR Labs.

He couldn't place it, but something felt a little off, something in the air making him a little itchy and suspicious, his shoulders tightening up against the anticipation of wrongness. He cut a look left and right, but there wasn't anything immediately out of place. There were a few more people out on the streets than there normally were for an early Tuesday morning, but there were any number of explanations for that.

He idled at a red traffic light and watched a bevy of swans waddle down the crosswalk in front of him in a silent line as they tried to reach the other side of the road before the light turned. It wasn't all that unusual to see birds in the road, but waterfowl this far from the waterside deserved a second glance. Leonard looked around again, quick and cautious. On the sidewalk to his left was a woman in a crimson-colored jacket, the red hood pulled up, shadowing her face. On the right, twelve schoolgirls doing pirouettes before giggling and running after their teacher.

He shook his head and drove forward when the light turned green, but he darted another quick look around once he was through the intersection, eyes sweeping left and right, looking for things out of the ordinary. After he'd gone a block, the tiny bits of strangeness he'd seen seemed to fade, so he filed them away in his mind as he continued onto STAR Labs, only a few minutes away.

His foot twinged when he put his kickstand down, and he scowled at that, taking a second to wiggle his toes in his boot. He probably needed to check the inserts again. Getting old was a pain in the ass. 

He whipped out his keycard and slid it through the magnetic card reader, smirking when the door swung open and let him inside. He counted the seconds, each step taking him closer to the room that they used as Flash headquarters, and as he stepped inside, he wondered—

"Snart!" Cisco jumped out of his chair when he saw Leonard in the doorway, and that answered his question. Barry had obviously not told Cisco that he was coming. This could be fun.

Leonard held his hand up, the keycard between his fingers, and arched an eyebrow. "Don't need to break in when I've got a key, Cisco."

That made Cisco roll his eyes and glare at Barry, who looked up as he took a bite of a power bar. "What?" Barry asked, mouth full. 

Leonard shook his head, slipping the keycard into his pocket and grabbing a chair, reclining in it like he belonged there, right ankle propped on his left knee.

"Cold has a key to the labs, Barry? Really?" Cisco looked torn, darting a quick look between them, and Leonard shrugged, smirking unapologetically at Cisco.

"Piper's got a key," Barry pointed out. "And Snart's practically a hero now, so yeah. Why not?"

"Yeah," Leonard agreed, just to see Cisco's face scrunch up in annoyance. "Why not?"

Barry smiled at that, and Leonard turned away, giving Caitlin a nod. "Dr. Snow."

"Leonard." Caitlin's voice was crisp, but not cold, which was a step up from the last time he was here. 

There was an appropriately long, awkward moment, and Leonard arched an eyebrow. "You texted me."

That jolted Barry out of whatever he was thinking, and he flushed as Cisco turned another exaggerated face on him. "You texted him?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"But nothing!" Cisco stood, ignoring Leonard as he gestured at Barry. "Just because he's not on the Waverider anymore doesn't mean that he's part of—of Team Flash, I mean, come on."

Barry turned toward Caitlin, then Leonard, silently pleading as Cisco continued berating him, and for some reason Leonard thought of Mick, of Sara, still on a mission to rescue time from itself. He wasn't one for attachments in general, but the best ones were always a surprise.

 _Just go_ , Mick had said. _We both know you're not gonna be happy here, not with the Flash wanting you back in Central._

And Mick had been right. Leonard said his goodbyes, followed the Flash off the ship, and didn't look back. All for moments like these.

Leonard could have sat there and listened to Barry get yelled at all day. There was a certain appeal in Barry's dark, distressed eyes, the way he hunched in on himself. But Barry had said that he needed help with something, and it obviously wasn't Cisco. He wouldn't get the full story until he left. Getting Barry alone would just be a pleasant side effect. 

"If I wanted to hear yelling, I would've seen Lisa," Leonard intoned, and he rose from his seat, heading toward the door and ignoring Cisco's yelp of indignation. "Coming or not, Red?"

"Oh thank God, yes," Barry said, and he flashed to the door, across the room in the time it took Leonard to blink. "Come on, let's go." Barry took Leonard's arm, dragging him out of the room, and Leonard stared at Barry's hand, the warmth sinking into him through his shirt and making his skin prickle in sudden awareness. He wondered if that was the way his life was going to be now, coming when the kid called, trying to be a hero. 

If so, there were worse things he could do.

"So, uh—" Barry released Leonard and spun around. They looked at each other as Barry shifted from foot to foot, and Leonard shook his head, raising a hand to forestall whatever awkward thing Barry was trying to work himself up to saying.

"I could use some breakfast." Leonard tilted his head. "How about you tell me what's going on while we eat?"

Barry nodded, and his smile turned sly after a second. "Just as long as it's not The Motorcar."

Leonard cut a look over at Barry, his mouth turning down in an annoyed frown. "What's wrong with The Motorcar?"

"It's gross," Barry said, planting his hands on his hips and looking at Leonard like he was daring him to argue.

Leonard thought about pushing the issue for a second, but forcing Barry to admit he didn't want to be near the police station with Leonard would just make things tense. He preferred going by himself anyway. Barry was too noticeable. "The food's not that bad."

Barry rolled his eyes and then pointed to his face. "You didn't miss the huge eyeroll, right? Because that place is gross. I ate there once. Never again. Let's compromise. Pancakes at Layla's?"

Leonard glowered at Barry for another long second on principle and then let it go. He was arguing about breakfast now. When the hell had that happened? He shrugged and put on his helmet. "Make it waffles, and you got a deal. Meet you there."

Barry beamed another one of his sweet smiles and flashed off in a blurry streak. Leonard exhaled, revving his engine and following. Barry was going to get there before he did, of course, and he still had traffic laws he had to follow, since he was pretending to be a decent law-abiding citizen. Getting a ticket for speeding wasn't worth it if he couldn't win.

Barry made a show of looking at his watch when Leonard pulled up, shaking his head in exaggerated disappointment. Leonard turned away and nudged the kickstand into place, refusing to give Barry any more attention when he was behaving like a kid. Leonard took his time, unbuckling his helmet and dismounting his motorcycle. Once he was ready, he took his sunglasses out of his pocket and slipped them on before he crossed the parking lot to meet Barry at the restaurant door.

Barry had changed in the time it had taken Leonard to get to the restaurant, and Leonard smirked, sweeping his gaze up and down Barry's body appreciatively. It was only polite, and Barry looked good in his red sweater. "Thought you would've gone in and ordered without me."

"The thought did cross my mind." Barry shrugged and slid his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. "But it would've been rude to go in by myself."

"You should try being bad sometime," Leonard said, pushing past Barry to open the diner door. "You might like it."

"Do you get paid to say stuff like that?" Barry was in Leonard's peripheral, behind him and to his left, and Leonard cased the rest of the place on habit, noting the empty tables and a single couple seated by the windows, laughing together. "Seriously, is there some weird criminal recruitment spiel that you practice before you go out every morning?"

"I think you're very confused about what I do," He nodded at the hostess before she led them to a booth to the right of the restaurant entrance. He took the side that put the wall to his back out of habit, but Barry didn't seem to care as he took his own seat.

"I know exactly what you do." Barry arched his eyebrow at Leonard and reached toward him slowly. Leonard appreciated the courtesy, and even had enough time to think about what he wanted to do before he allowed Barry to pluck the sunglasses off his face, folding them and setting them on the table before he opened the menu. "You're in charge of the Rogues."

"Lisa runs the Rogues now," Leonard corrected, shaking his head. "I consult."

"You're really going to sit here and argue semantics with me?" Barry leaned back in his seat, and Leonard smirked, setting his menu aside before he leaned forward and rested his forearms against the table.

"I could argue a lot of things." Leonard sat back as the waitress came to take their drink orders and fill their water glasses. "I consult for you, too."

"Right." Barry nodded slowly, his brows pinched in obvious disbelief. "When you're not shooting at me, it's consulting."

Leonard smiled again, a tiny, barely there curl of his lips, and Barry set his menu aside. "Central's my city, Red. I just let you live in it."

Barry scoffed, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by their waitress, coming back with their drinks and withdrawing her notepad from her apron to take their orders. "Anyway," he said when she left, "we're not here to talk about the Rogues."

Leonard nodded. "Right. By all means."

Barry ducked his head, not quite successfully hiding a smile, and then cleared his throat. "Okay, I'll get to the point." He took a sip of his water. "Cisco recorded some weird energy readings early this morning." Leonard nodded, focusing entirely on Barry now that they were getting to business. "There were two sets of fluctuations in the electromagnetic fields around Central—just a few seconds here and there. Cisco would've missed it if he hadn't been doing a sweep of the city."

Leonard nodded slowly. "I'll give you three the benefit of the doubt and assume you investigated the location of the fluctuations. What did you find?"

Barry shook his head. "Nothing much. Out of the five places I scouted, there wasn't anything out of place. The weirdest thing about it all is that the first set of electromagnetic disturbances started at exactly 7 a.m. It's appeared once since then, at nine."

"Two disturbances, but five locations?"

Barry nodded. "It's like—" He grabbed the ketchup and the mustard, placing them on the right and left, and then grabbed the salt and pepper shakers, setting them down on the table as well. He put a sugar packet directly in the center and prodded it with his finger. "They intersected at Haldwell Tower, so we wanted to make sure that we didn't dismiss it out of hand. There was nothing there, though, so Cisco patched into the security cameras, just in case."

"Are you sure it wasn't natural? Residual radiation from a cell tower making the STAR Lab sensors misinterpret something?"

Barry pursed his lips and looked at Leonard, shaking his head. "I think we've done this long enough that we know the difference."

"Cisco may be a genius, but you know what they say about genius and common sense." Barry hastily cleared the table, and Leonard glanced away from him as the waitress came with their food.

Barry rolled his eyes at Leonard, and barely waited for the waitress to leave before he was digging into his meal. Leonard looked wistfully at his black coffee and added two small containers of creamer—drinking black coffee first thing in the morning always gave him heartburn. "I would've ignored it if it hadn't happened the second time. I appreciate the whole Devil's Advocate stance you're taking, but I wouldn't have texted you if I thought it was nothing."

Leonard smirked. "I assumed you missed me. You were very impatient."

"It's a tragic shortcoming of my generation," Barry joked. "Instant gratification. It's only gotten worse for me since the whole—" He gestured, marking a lightning bolt in the air, and Leonard nodded.

"Anything else?" Barry looked a little embarrassed, but shook his head. "So you're basically telling me you've got nothing, Red." Leonard could feel the corner of his mouth twist up into a small smile, unable to stop the warmth pooling in his chest as he looked at Barry, who was wrinkling his nose and sitting across from Leonard like he didn't have a care in the world. He'd tried to kill this kid, more than once, and now carried what basically amounted to a secret schoolboy crush. Strange how things turned out.

"Well, maybe nothing _right now_ ," Barry said defensively, "but Caitlin and Cisco are working on it, and I'll be able to keep an eye on the situation at work." He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out an earbud, which he set down next to Leonard's hand. "If you see anything, you could let us know."

Leonard tucked the earbud into his pocket and shrugged as he started eating his waffle. "We'll see how it goes." They fell into a strangely companionable silence, and Leonard thought back to the drive between his apartment at STAR Labs. "Text me the locations. I know you said you took a look at them earlier, but I might see something you missed. I'll drive by and check them out myself." Barry nodded and pulled out his phone, fingers swiping quickly over the surface, and Leonard's phone buzzed in his pocket.

"What is it?" Barry asked as he looked up. "You look like you're thinking hard."

Leonard pinned Barry with a look. "I'm always thinking hard."

"Thinking about something specifically, then?"

Leonard tilted his head. "Yes. Notice anything unusual around Central when you were running?"

"Unusual?" Barry asked. "Unusual how?"

Leonard shook his head as he thought about the swans. "Like it should all be normal, but doesn't feel like it. Never mind. Might be an Oculus thing."

Barry nodded, his forehead wrinkling in concern. "I haven't noticed anything yet, but I'll keep my eyes open." Barry's phone buzzed, and he winced apologetically at Leonard as he answered it. "Barry Allen." Barry darted a look across the table at Leonard and rolled his eyes at whatever he was hearing on the phone. It made Leonard smile despite himself. "Yes, sir, I'll be right there."

Leonard watched as Barry shoved his phone back into his pocket. "Duty calls?"

"Yeah," Barry agreed, and he scooted out of the booth. "What a pain."

"It's not too late to join the Rogues." Leonard stole another look at Barry, a smirk still tilting the corner of his mouth. "Pay's good. Set your own hours."

"But does this new job come with _benefits_?" Barry grinned, his hazel eyes warm and playful. Leonard knew very well what kind of benefits Barry was asking about, but it was still fun to imagine what the kid might do if Leonard offered a different arrangement.

"What do you need benefits for?" Leonard cut another piece of his waffle and then tilted his head in consideration. "I'll offer dental."

Barry laughed at that and then paused for just a second, like he was regretting having to leave. When he looked back at Leonard, however, his eyes narrowed, gleaming with a mischievousness that made Leonard instantly wary. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Thanks for—" Barry grinned and went out the door, just short of super speed. Leonard looked down at the table, at his half-eaten waffle and Barry's clean plate.

He was a bad influence on the kid.

It shouldn't have pleased him so much.

~*~

Leonard texted Lisa as he finished his breakfast, and then he turned his attention to the locations that Barry had texted him earlier, slotting them into the mental map he always kept of Central. 

Like they'd talked about, there wasn't any particular pattern developing yet, other than the intersection at the tower—the disturbances were on the opposite sides of the city from each other. He took a second to put the earbud in and switch it on, pleasantly surprised when he immediately got chatter from Cisco, grumbling in the microphone about how hard it was to do recon stuck in a lab. Leonard's chest grew warm, and he averted his eyes, although no one who cared was there to see him. Barry had actually patched him into the channel he was using with STAR Labs and that—that was something special.

"Just got to work, checking in," Barry said. "We've got a handful of cases already. Something's definitely going on."

"Keep us updated, if we can help in any way," Caitlin said. "Wally? Do you have your earpiece in?" There was silence, and Leonard took the opportunity to pay for breakfast, making sure to tip the waitress well. The first location was in Mounds View, of all places, with its corresponding point in Englewood.

"I think he's got class," Cisco said. 

Leonard grabbed his helmet, going out to his bike. It was ridiculous, how young these kids were, how passionate they were about saving the city. Leonard didn't particularly see the point, all things considered. Central had been here long before any of them were around, and it would be here after they were gone. He didn't think being a vigilante helped in the long run.

He wouldn't say that to Barry, though.

Or maybe he would. It would be fun to see Barry go off on a tangent.

Mounds View was closer, so he pulled out of the parking lot, keeping just under the speed limit, since he was playing the good law-abiding antihero today. The drive through Central was uneventful, and although Leonard occasionally heard one of the kids in STAR Labs say something, he couldn't exactly focus on the words with over the noise of the engine, his helmet and the speed of the wind blowing past him, so instead he let the words wash over him, keeping half an ear out for tone instead, which was a better signifier of urgency.

Mounds View was quieter than usual for a tourist spot this time of day, and he had no trouble finding a parking spot. He stuck his helmet in its bag and slung the strap over his shoulder—although it wasn't a particularly bright helmet, he wanted to stay under the radar; the last thing he needed would be an officer poking around his business.

An elderly lady carrying a basket of brilliantly red apples waved at Leonard from across the street, and Leonard smiled tightly, giving her a short nod of acknowledgment. To his left, several children played on the sidewalk—skipping school, maybe, or running wild because they weren't under the watchful eye of a parent. Ahead of him, a woman in a bonnet sat in the shade of a tree and opened a book, idly flipping through the pages.

That strange unease that Leonard had felt that morning was coming back in full force, the back of his neck prickling in icy awareness, and he darted another look around to catch his bearings again. Just like before, there was nothing that really made him step away and take notice, only a niggling sense of _déjà vu_.

The residential neighborhood he was walking through wasn't anything like he remembered—the architecture was wrong: small, square, and cookie cutter cute, as if they were all built in the same vaguely Teutonic mold. Leonard took out his phone and snapped a few pictures to study later. Mounds View had a tendency to build trendy, but the homes he was seeing here would have fit better in Danville, where the Wests lived.

Leonard glanced at the address again, just to make sure he was at the right place, and paused when he heard the birds. It was fall, heading into late November, but the birds in the trees were singing as though it were spring. He was struck with a sense of bizarre discomfort, like he'd somehow managed to step through to another dimension. That was one of the things he could thank the Oculus for—dying at the nexus of time had sharpened his sense of forewarning, as if there were fragments of moments still hidden in his mind. His phone rang, the tinny default ringtone that he used exclusively for Lisa dinging out of the speaker, and Leonard took a breath and turned away. The weird Stepford neighborhood could wait.

"Lise?"

"Lenny." The amusement in Lisa's voice was a balm to his worried mind, comforting and familiar. "Are you checking up on me again? I can't be a successful criminal mastermind if you're always second guessing my choices. You're lucky I decided to call you back."

"Don't want me to judge you? Make better choices," Leonard said dryly. "Didn't text earlier to harass you anyway. I need a favor."

"Of course you did. What do you want?"

"We should talk in private. I'm twenty minutes away from Pfeiffer Park. Meet me there?"

"There you go again, always assuming I have nothing better to do." Lisa sighed, and Leonard readjusted the earbud in his other ear.

"Thought I could use your help," Leonard glanced up and down the street again. "Don't worry about it. I'll find what I need without you."

"Don't be a jerk," Lisa snapped. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it, I—"

"I'm not the one being contrary," Leonard said dryly.

The playfulness fell out of Lisa's voice when she spoke again. "What d'you need, Lenny?"

"I'm in the middle of some recon for the Flash." There was a moment when Leonard heard the sharp intake of Lisa's breath over the phone, but she didn't say anything. She didn't have to. "I can't be everywhere at once, and neither can the Flash. We could use Shawna's help. Discreetly."

"Do you expect Shawna to work for the Flash in any for—"

"Wait." Leonard turned his attention to the earbud in his ear, focused on the excitement in Cisco's voice.

"Barry, we've got another one—"

"Damn it, I'm at a scene," Barry hissed. "I can't—"

Leonard pressed the microphone button on his earbud. "I'm ready, Cisco. Send me the coordinates." To Lisa, "Sorry, trainwreck, change of plans. Get Shawna over to Englewood. Have her and Mardon look for anything weird." He glanced at his phone when Cisco's text came through and gave Lisa the address. "Think you're ready to be a leader, sis? Meet me at Wakefield and Maine—we might still be in luck if we get there fast enough."

"You can't tell me to be a leader and then expect me to follow you," Lisa retorted, and Leonard pinned the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled his helmet out of the bag.

"You'll have more time with Cisco if you join in." Leonard paused, and then decided to sweeten the pot further. "I won't even tease you."

"Yeah, okay," Lisa agreed after a moment. "Damn you."

"Shouldn't let yourself get so attached."

"And you're full of shit."

Leonard hung up the phone and jogged to the parking lot, pulling his helmet over his head before he mounted his bike again, heading toward the new location. There was a very distinct difference between Leonard and Lisa, no matter how similar she thought their situations were.

With Cisco, Lisa had a chance.

Leonard turned onto the highway, heading into Lawrence Hills, and frowned as he jammed on his breaks, unprepared for the traffic snarl that he found himself in. 

"Hey," Wally said over the channel. "Couldn't answer before, I was in class, but—things are really weird over here. Like, I'm pretty sure I'm staring at seven dwarves hauling backpacks, it's—"

"That's insensitive," Caitlin scolded. "Just because they're small doesn't mean you should call them dwarves."

"That's not what I—ugh, working with you guys is so weird, for real," Wally complained. "I mean, like, I'm pretty sure one of them has a pickaxe."

Leonard raised his hand to his ear, and paused when the ground vibrated beneath him. It wasn't as immediate as an earthquake—it was more rhythmic, and for a wild moment, he thought about the T-Rex in Jurassic Park just as a car lifted off the road and flew over his head, landing with a horrendous screech of metal against the asphalt as it skidded down the street on its hood.

Leonard instinctively dropped his hand to his thigh, fingers closing around air instead of the comforting weight of his cold gun. He'd made the decision to leave it at his apartment because he hadn't expected to get into a fight, and he couldn't believe he'd been so stupid.

There was always going to be a fight.

In front of him, past the line of cars and the civilians screaming and falling out of their vehicles to run away, was the overpass. It looked darker than normal, an inky grayness to the shadows that prevented Leonard from seeing through to the other side of the bridge. One of the cars jerked forward, the driver pumping the gas, brave or stupid or both—and from beneath the bridge, a large, hairy hand reached out of the darkness, picking up the car and throwing it, just like the first.

Leonard's heart started thumping, adrenaline making his breath come short. He had fought time-traveling pirates, an immortal Egyptian priest, and now—he raised his hand to his ear and activated the microphone. "Barry. Red. You copy?" Leonard licked his lips, staring into the void beneath the bridge. He was immediately nostalgic for the old fantasy movies he'd watched when he was a kid, and he took a deep breath, mentally pushing his excitement away. This was what had been missing. The rush. The game.

"I hear you, Len," Barry responded. "What's up?"

"Great. That's great. I ask a question, I get crickets." Leonard could almost hear Cisco roll his eyes as he scoffed. "Snart says something, and you're all over it."

"I'm at the overpass leading into Lawrence Hills." Leonard ignored Cisco, tilting to the left to avoid another civilian. "There's a troll. Under the bridge." He revved his engine, excitement fluttering like butterflies in his stomach. "Gonna get a closer look."

"You've got to be kidding," Caitlin exclaimed, and Leonard dropped his hand, leaving the mic deactivated.

The troll was still reaching for cars, shaking each one before it lost interest and tossed them aside. Leonard revved his engine one more time and sped through the gridlock of abandoned cars, waiting until the last moment to spin his motorcycle, sliding off the seat and rolling against the road until he slammed up against the rear bumper of another car. His motorcycle skidded along the road and smashed into the troll's hand, making it roar in outrage and peek its head out beneath the bridge. It was gray, even larger than its hand had made it seem, with wild black hair cascading over pallid shoulders, tusks jutting from its bottom lip.

Leonard grunted as he sat up, bruised from his impact with the car, but it provided cover. He couldn't resist taking his phone out and sneaking a picture—Mick would be pissed he missed it.

"I'm going to eat you," the troll growled, its voice so deep that it sounded like a roll of thunder, "for breakfast, lunch, and tea."

Leonard edged out from behind the back of the car, stealing a peek at the troll, who was surveying the abandoned cars on the road as though looking for food. There was a woman to his right, her hand raised to her mouth as she stifled her sobs, and Leonard's gut tightened in apprehension. He was torn in two different ways—he wanted to get closer to the troll, and there was always the possibility he could lure it away from the bridge if he was skillful enough. If he couldn't, though, anyone still hiding could die. Leonard wondered for a second if that would count against his deal with the Flash.

He stole another look at the troll again, who was distracted by something on the other side of the bridge, and then jabbed a finger in the woman's direction, waving her over. She swallowed, looking toward the bridge, and crawled on her hands and knees, freezing at every sound that caught her attention. He checked the location of the troll one more time and grabbed her arm as soon as she was in reach, hauling her behind his cover.

"Doesn't look like he's moving away from the bridge," Leonard whispered. "Make for the red car. You'll be okay." She inhaled a wet, rattling breath and nodded, easing back toward the abandoned cars behind them.

Leonard was mildly pleased with himself. Facing a troll unarmed _and_ saving a civilian—Barry had nothing to complain about. He took a few slow, careful steps toward the troll and hissed out a hard breath when a stab of pain travelled from the center of his foot and up his leg, but he gritted his teeth and continued to move forward. He must have landed badly when he used his motorcycle to distract the troll, and he hated that he was already starting to feel the effects.

The ground trembled again when the troll ducked beneath the bridge and came out the other side. Leonard could hear it breathing, could feel the hot exhale, moist and smelling of blood, sinking down on him where he was hidden.

For a second, he thought wistfully of Ray and his ATOM suit and then grimaced, annoyance making him grit his teeth again. He didn't need an exo-skeleton of armor that grew and shrunk on command. He'd be just fine on his own.

He cautiously leaned out from behind the car he'd chosen as his hiding spot, trying to get another look, but the troll had vanished. There were some brave, stupid people still trying to make their way through the maze of abandoned cars. He eased away from the trunk of the car, pressing himself along the side as he crept forward. His cold gun would have made everything easier. _Any_ weapon would have made this easier, and he was deeply disappointed in himself for being so defenseless. 

He popped open the door, freezing when a shriek rent the air. It went abruptly quiet, followed by a horrible crunching sound. Barry would have saved everyone by now, would have thrown lightning to get the troll's attention, but Leonard wasn't that foolhardy or that selfish. Even if he wasn't entirely sure the adrenaline rush wasn't worth being almost eaten by a troll under a bridge. Life in Central after the accelerator explosion was one party after the other.

Part of him expected Barry to show up any second, because Barry always pushed himself to be where the most danger was, but four seconds passed, then five, and there was no telltale flash of lightning crackling on the ground. He must really have been tied up with work. The calvary wasn't going to come, so Leonard took a breath, held it, and honked the horn. 

The blare of noise drew the troll's attention, as Leonard had hoped, and he threw himself flat on the ground when the troll struck the car, flipping it over. He scrambled toward another car, and the troll jerked toward him, crawling out of its cozy underpass home. Out of the corner of Leonard's eye, he could see another person taking advantage of his distraction to make a run for it.

He heard the squeal of another motorcycle on the shoulder of the road, and he risked looking over his shoulder, watching as the driver skidded to a stop a few feet away from him, and revved the engine. He instantly recognized Lisa by the golden stripes on her helmet and bike. 

He staggered to his feet, hissing again when sharp, jagged pain tore through him with each step, and slung his leg around Lisa's bike, wrapping his arms around her waist. She aimed her gun at the troll, encasing its leg and foot in gold. It looked down, its mouth going slack in surprise, but then it shook itself like a dog shaking off the rain. The gold cracked and crumbled.

"Lise, move your ass!" Len tightened his grip on Lisa's waist, and she whipped them around, hightailing it in the other direction. The tightness in his chest, the anxiety that had been warring with the adrenaline, started to fade as they drove, and by the time they reached his apartment, he was completely calm again.

Lisa, however, was not.

She kicked the stand peg down and slid off the motorcycle, yanking her helmet off her head, her eyes narrowing as she whipped around to glare at Leonard. "Don't tell me you were about to fight that thing by yourself!"

Leonard shrugged. "I won't tell you." He eased off the back of the bike, curling his toes in his boot before he gingerly set his foot on the ground. The pain was sharp, immediate, and he gritted his teeth, wistfully thinking of Gideon and the medbay. 

"Lenny." And there it was—Lisa's sympathy. It was worse than her anger. "I know you told me not to worry about you and the Flash, but if you're doing this to… I don't know, impress him, it's not worth it."

"Not trying to impress anyone." Leonard shrugged. "How'd you know where to find me, anyway?"

Lisa tossed her hair over her shoulder and went toward the doors. "Cisco patched your location into my GPS."

Leonard frowned, but he _had_ promised not to say anything about her flirtation with Cisco if she convinced the Rogues to help. It was an annoying but necessary inconvenience. "Stay here. I'm gonna get my gun."

"I honestly can't believe you left home without it." 

Leonard ignored her, gritting his teeth as he walked to the door, jagged shooting pains racing up and down his legs. She had a point, but he wasn't going to waste his breath discussing his lack of judgement. He braced himself against the pain, and it made his shoulders grow tense, a minor concern that was overshadowed by the concentration it took to force each step. Leonard waved Lisa away and went into his apartment, strapping his holster to his thigh and fastening his cold gun firmly in place. When he came back out, Lisa was waiting, her bike rumbling and ready to go, and it was easy enough for Leonard to allow her to take the lead, to settle himself behind her again and rest his hands on her waist.

Lisa was never reckless when driving, which was something that Leonard had always appreciated, and there was no one else he'd trust when things were shaping up to be dangerous on the road. She chose back roads with less traffic congestion and got them back to STAR Labs so fast it was as though they'd never stopped. Lisa parked and swung off the seat—Leonard paused for a second and let his foot touch the ground, allowing himself a moment to push against the pain and his own frustration. Once he was ready, he moved past Lisa, stalking toward the door of the labs and pushing it open. Lisa muttered something under her breath behind him, and he slowed down just enough so that they would walk through the double doors of the labs side by side. He couldn't resist being dramatic.

"You have no idea what it's like, having children following you everywhere." Leonard recognized that voice and arched an eyebrow as he took in Hartley, sprawled in one of the chairs. "Thankfully, you still have keycard security doors, and—" Hartley paused mid sentence, his eyes sweeping over Leonard and Lisa. "And this may end up a _felix culpa_ after all." He straightened in his seat and gave Leonard a slow lookover. "Cold. Didn't expect to see you here."

Leonard inclined his head. "Piper."

There was a zip of yellow lightning, and Barry—mask on—planted himself between Leonard and Hartley. "Did you actually fight that troll?"

Leonard shook his head, raising his hands in surrender. Barry's face was half-hidden by the cowl, but his hazel eyes flashed hard and annoyed, and it made Leonard smile. The normal warmth in Leonard's chest that he'd become used to grew, and he swallowed against the sudden emotion. Barry had a nice smile, but his anger was something else. 

"Chill, Red," Leonard said dryly. "I didn't fight the troll. Cisco sent in the calvary." He turned his head, glancing over Barry's shoulder at Cisco. "Thanks."

"Yeah, well." Cisco cleared his throat, glancing at Lisa before he jerked his eyes back to Leonard. "I didn't do it for you." A robin fluttered its wings as it landed on Cisco's shoulder, and he absently waved it away as he turned back to his screen.

Leonard stared hard at Cisco for a second, and then at his sister, jerking his head in Cisco's direction and raising his eyebrow. Lisa shrugged and set her helmet on the floor next to the door before she went over to Cisco, peering over his shoulder at the screen in front of him.

Barry seemed to relax in front of Leonard, dropping his hand from his hip and smiling, a cocky sort of grin that Leonard loved seeing. He only ever got to appreciate it when Barry was going to do something reckless. "You were totally going to fight a troll, weren't you?"

"Can't prove it," Leonard said, and he stepped over to the side, grabbing a chair and sitting down, swinging his feet up onto the seat of the chair next to him. With his feet off the ground, it stopped feeling like there were knives cutting into his skin, and he sighed, relaxing despite himself.

"So get this," Cisco said, and a map of Central splayed on the large display behind Barry. "Here's all the electromagnetic interference we've been getting around Central. This includes radio waves, cell phone towers, the works. Now—"

"You could filter out the noise by matching the frequency that—"

Cisco waved Hartley silent. "Way ahead of you, bro. Using the information from the last fluctuation, you'll notice—"

"Six different locations, exact same frequency," Caitlin said. "We can say for sure at this point that it's happening every two hours."

Hartley glanced at his watch. "So we have an hour and forty minutes."

"And when you factor in the time—"

"Two, at the exact same time, all the way across the city from each other," Barry mused, folding his arms over his chest.

"So we're looking for—" Leonard's voice gave out, trailing off into silence, and he cleared his throat, trying again. "More than—"

"It's simple." Hartley rose to his feet, studying the screen with focused intensity. "Two locations, two people." He pointed at the screen, stopping just before his finger touched, and drew a line between each location, pointing at the time stamp labeled conveniently on the screen.

Barry turned toward Leonard. "You said you were going to do some recon, right? What did you see?" Leonard nodded once, and he paused for a minute, trying to prepare a timeline of what happened before he spoke. Barry stepped forward, concern etched on his face. "Hey. You okay?"

Leonard nodded slowly, closing his eyes as he dropped his feet to the ground, already anticipating the pain that made the arches of his feet ache. It was just pain. The cold gun, shattering his own hand—that was worse. Leonard smirked, a hard tilt of his mouth that vanished in a second. "Peachy."

Barry glared at him and crossed his arms, his eyes narrow with annoyance. "Now's not the time to be making jokes."

"Says you." Leonard leaned forward and set his elbows on his knees, interlacing his fingers. "I didn't have a chance to see much. A lady with apples. The houses were weird. The troll." He fished his phone out and opened his gallery, hesitating only a moment before he showed Barry the photos he'd taken earlier.

"Huh." Barry tilted his head as he looked at Leonard's phone. "They sort of remind me of the—you know, the gingerbread houses you make at Christmas?" Leonard stared at Barry for a second and shrugged once he had his attention. "You've never made a gingerbread house? Are you for real?"

"Wait, wait," Hartley said, turning to give them all a derisive look, insulting them all without saying a word. Leonard was impressed. "You actually expect me to believe stories about gingerbread houses and apples and trolls?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Cisco asked, and he smiled at the squirrel perched on his table as it offered him his tablet pen.

"Of course you're clueless." Hartley rolled his eyes. "You're barely literate." He took Leonard's phone from Barry and flipped through the pictures before he shook his head and tossed Leonard's phone back to him. "Do we have any other pictures of this troll you've been talking about?"

"Sorry," Leonard drawled. "Was too busy getting cars thrown at me to worry about a photoshoot."

Wally pushed the door to the cortex open and stepped aside to let Iris in. "Sounds like I got here right on time. How lucky is that?" 

Leonard felt tension tighten his shoulders as he retreated instinctively, leaning back in his chair again. Give him something to shoot, someone to con, he was there. Expect him to play nice, and there was the problem. That problem was doubled with his new amicable relationship with Barry. Some of Barry's friends expected the courtesy to extend to them.

"I've got exactly what you're asking for." Iris brandished a USB drive and struck a triumphant pose, her hair flowing back like a gentle breeze had blown through the room. She was even more stunning than she usually was, and she beamed a charming smile at everyone before she handed the drive to Hartley. Then she frowned and shook her head, raising a hand to her temple. "I—sorry, I don't know what that was all about." She shook her head again, as though to clear it. "We got some camera footage of the bridge. Thank God for smartphones."

Hartley spun in his chair and plugged in the drive, pulling up the photos and transferring them to the central monitor. "Under the bridge? Really? Someone's a reader." He gestured, including everyone in the room with the sweep of his hand. "Trolls under a bridge. Gingerbread houses in Mounds View." He paused for a second and scoffed. "Even the children following me around. Someone's been reading fairy tales."

"And not the nice ones, either," Iris said.

Barry shrugged. "I never really got into fairy tales. I was a dino kid."

Iris laughed and rolled her eyes. " _Everyone_ was a dino kid at some point, Barr."

"If we're experiencing fairy tales, then that means magic." Cisco ran a hand through his hair and reached past Caitlin for another tablet. "Geez, you're cold—but seriously, we're not equipped to deal with magic. Maybe we can put in a call to Star, see if Felicity has any ideas."

Barry shook his head. "We don't need their help. They've got enough to deal with. If it's just two people, or even three, I can take them."

"I sent Shawna and Mark to Englewood," Lisa said, sliding her fingertips over the back of Cisco's chair as she walked back over to Leonard's side. "We're willing to help. For a price."

"Whoa, whoa, chill out, Sister Cold!" Cisco shook his head emphatically, raising his hands. "No prices! No deals! We can figure it out ourselves!" 

"Are you sure?" Lisa asked, a frown wrinkling her forehead. "I'm disappointed, Cisco. Not even a little bargaining?"

"Nope. No. No bargaining." Cisco flushed when Lisa smiled, and Leonard fought the urge to scowl at Cisco if only to remind him exactly who he was flirting with.

"Guys." Iris snagged one of the rolling chairs and nudged Hartley out of the way, stealing his computer. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she pulled up a series of photos and showed them one by one on the screen. Nearly all of them were blurry with movement, but it was still easy enough to see the long arms, the hand reaching out from the darkness. Now that Leonard had a little distance, seeing something so strange made uneasiness curl in his stomach.

Lisa snorted and leaned against Leonard's chair. "And you were going to fight that thing, Lenny."

Leonard shook his head. "I didn't run away. Doesn't mean I was going to fight it. I just wanted a closer look." He looked at his watch. "We've got an hour and thirty-two minutes before the next wave. I'm gonna—" He jerked a thumb toward the hall. "Be back in a minute. "

Leonard sucked in a soft breath to prepare himself and stood, pausing only for a second before he stalked down the hall. He passed by the closest bathroom, choosing one of the smaller ones further from the cortex, and pushed open the door. There was a single seat, and he lowered the toilet lid before he sat. He reached down to unlace his boots, and—he could already smell the blood, a moist, coppery, meaty smell. He yanked off his boot, narrowing his eyes against the pain and set it aside before he focused on his sock, already ruined and tacky with blood. He peeled it off, ignoring the fresh bleeding it caused, and examined his foot. There was nothing missing, no bits or pieces being magically cut off, nothing disappearing, but there were bleeding blisters on his heel. His foot was exceptionally tender, like the pain was from the very act of walking itself. 

There was a soft knock at the door and Lisa peeked in before she stepped inside and closed the door completely. "I saw you limp," she said, and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the sink counter. "What's going on?"

Leonard shrugged. "Guess I'm affected."

Lisa snorted. "Obviously." She peered down at him as he reached for a paper towel and dabbed at the bleeding blisters and rents in his skin. "You're not missing a toe, so it's not Cinderella. No red shoes, thank God, so—"

Realization hit him, misery knotting in his gut, and Leonard could see the moment it hit Lisa, too, her eyes turning glossy with sympathy. He knew exactly what fairy tale he was. It had been Lisa's favorite. 

He closed his eyes, counted to ten, and exhaled. "I thought it was only a crush."

Lisa reached out, hesitating for a moment before she rested her hand lightly on his shoulder, and he swallowed, an unaccustomed pang of guilt making his throat close. He knew he didn't particularly invite touch, but knowing Lisa hesitated for his sake made his chest grow tight.

"Does he know?" She squeezed his shoulder, and he scoffed, shooting her a glance from the corner of his eye.

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way." Leonard shook his head. "It stays between us."

Lisa sighed and stepped closer, curling her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in for a hug. He didn't entirely resist her, resting his cheek against her stomach and closing his eyes as he breathed in her perfume. "I wish I could do something."

"Stop." He took another long, slow breath, and then pulled away. "Find me some gauze. Medical tape."

Lisa nodded and slipped out of the room. Leonard unlaced his other boot, took off his other sock, and spent a few minutes trying to clean up the blood. He stood and limped over to the sink, holding the boot upside down. He wasn't entirely surprised when a small trickle of blood drained from the bottom of his boot. He set the boot down and then braced himself, clenching his hands tight around the edge of the sink. It was embarrassing. Embarrassing and stupid. 

Lisa came back with the supplies, and she pushed her hair behind her ear as she stared at him, hard and measuring. "You're looking pretty bad."

"Not surprised." Leonard made his way back to the toilet and sank down onto the lid, breathing a sigh of relief when he sat. "Feels like I'm getting stabbed every time I take a step."

Lisa nodded. "Need help?"

"I got this, sis." He held out his hand, and she turned over the gauze, some medical spray, and tape. "Keep an eye on the kids out there. Who knows what they're planning."

"Or not planning. Hartley might come up with something good." All the same, Lisa left, closing the door behind her. 

The peace and quiet was a relief. Leonard took the medical spray and a little of the gauze to carefully clean his wounds, and then he bandaged the worst of them. It felt weird not to wear socks, but hopefully the gauze would catch any new bleeding before it thoroughly ruined his favorite pair of shoes. He eased his feet carefully into his boots, wiggling his toes to try and get comfortable, and then he stood, gathering his destroyed socks and his used medical supplies into a pile, so he could throw them away in the biohazard container he'd seen further along the hallway.

When he finally rejoined the rest of the group, they were in the middle of a heated discussion, and he cleared his throat twice before they even realized he was there. "Do we have a plan yet, or do you just like yelling at each other?"

Hartley threw up his arms. "Cold. Finally, someone else with a brain." He ducked when one of Cisco's squirrels threw a nut in his direction. "They aren't listening to me at all."

Leonard crossed his arms over his chest. "What've we got?"

"X marks the spot," Caitlin said, circling Hardwell Tower, where all six points intersected—"but there's been no activity."

"The calls have been going crazy on the police channel." Cisco hummed to himself as he chewed on one of his perfectly manicured fingernails. "We've got Weather Wizard using tornadoes to blow people's houses down, and—"

"Oh, shit." Lisa jerked upright and went for her phone, turning away to give herself a little privacy, and Leonard turned his attention back on Caitlin.

"Central gets a new flush of activity with each spike, and it ripples throughout the city." Caitlin tapped a series of keys, and the display marked each confirmed sighting of unusual activity. "The EM spikes are the epicenter—the further away, the fewer instances of—of fairy tales we have reported."

The police band crackled, and Joe's voice came over the line. "Adam Five. All units. We've got a 10-34. There's a dragon on the roof. Repeat, there is a _dragon_ on the roof."

"Dad," Iris gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

Leonard looked around the room, a plan forming in seconds. "Cisco, Lisa, Caitlin, stay here and coordinate. Flash, get to Hardwell Tower and see what's going on. You're the only one fast enough to be safe. Piper and I will investigate—"

Hartley shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere. Children, Cold. Following me like I've got candy in my pockets."

Leonard gritted his teeth, a muscle working in his jaw. "Fine. I'll go back to Lawrence Hills. We're far enough away that the troll shouldn't be a problem anymore. Flash, you can check New Brighton after the Tower."

"Iris and I will go to the police station," Wally said.

Iris nodded. "We may be able to help Dad."

Barry flashed over to Cisco and then tossed Iris an earbud. "Good idea. Grab one of these—if you need help, I'll be there."

Iris caught the earbud and smiled, setting her hand on her hip as she settled the earbud into place, cocky and sure. "Wally and I can handle this." She touched Wally's arm and they went to the door, vanishing through the entrance.

Lisa set her chin on her hand, smiling after them. "Iris is very charming today, isn't she?"

Even Leonard found himself nodding in agreement, and he frowned on principle. "Were you able to get in touch with Mardon?"

Lisa shook her head. "He's gone AWOL. Too close to the magic epicenter, I think."

"What about Shawna?"

"I left a message," Lisa said, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder and pouted. "Quit second guessing me."

"I'm not—" Leonard was interrupted by a cloud of black smoke, the air making a soft sound around Shawna's body as it was displaced.

"You needed me?" Shawna's eyes moved back and forth across the cortex as she stepped closer to Lisa, keeping Barry in her peripheral vision.

"You okay?" Lisa reached out and squeezed Shawna's arm.

Shawna nodded. "Mark didn't hurt me. I'm too fast for him."

"I'm glad to hear it," Lisa said warmly. "I need you to take my brother to Lawrence Hills. Can you do that?"

Shawna frowned. "It might take a couple of trips, but I think I can."

"Anyone else weirded out by the fact that we have three criminals just, you know, hanging out in our headquarters?" Cisco asked.

"It's not going to be a problem as long as you don't make it one, Cisco." Lisa's voice was low with warning, and Shawna laughed, high and nervous before she teleported over to Leonard's side, wrapping her hand around his arm.

"Ready, Cold?"

"Yeah."

Shawna's arm tightened around Leonard when Barry took a step forward, and shook her head. "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me."

They vanished in a puff of black smoke. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about being one of Shawna's passengers, all things considered. You were in one place and then another, simple as that. 

"You okay?"

"Great, now that I'm not there," Shawna said, and flipped down her goggles, peering into the distance. "I knew what I was doing. You've gotten tight with the Flash."

"I have an agreement with the Flash," Leonard said. They teleported again, three times in rapid succession, and then he continued. "And my agreement with you still stands."

"Good to know. Are we going somewhere specific in the Hills?"

Leonard nodded, pulling up a picture to show her what the intersection looked like, so she'd be able to teleport more easily. Shawna nodded and then they were off again, appearing in one spot and then another within seconds. Leonard wouldn't have normally taken advantage of Shawna's abilities so publicly, but with the rest of the city overrun with magic, discretion wasn't on his list of priorities. 

"I've checked the tower and Brighton," Barry said over the radio. "I've seen swan people and wolves blowing down houses and at least thirty narcoleptics, but no one who looks like they might be in charge. Iris, what's going on at the police station?"

"Dad and I are scaling the building," Iris whispered back. "Don't worry about us. He has an axe."

"Right. Why would I be worried? Len, what about you?"

Leonard raised his hand to his ear to activate his receiver. "Shawna and I are at the intersection of Wakefield and Sunflower. Stand b—"

There was a flash of yellow lightning, and Shawna raised her hands. "I'm out, Cold. Good luck." 

Shawna teleported away, and Leonard turned to face Barry. Even though he was annoyed, the fact that Barry came to find him so willingly gave his ego a hell of a boost. "What part of 'stand by' didn't you understand?"

"I thought you could use the help," Barry said, and then he peered at Leonard. "Wait. Are you mad at me?"

"How'd you guess?" Leonard turned away from Barry, scanning the street in front of him. "You didn't need to come to me. That wasn't the plan."

"It's fine," Barry said, shaking his head dismissively. "We'll fix everything."

"That's not the point." Leonard spread his arms out and turned in a slow circle, encompassing everything that had happened in Central in the past four hours. "Trolls. Your girlfriend is fighting a dragon at the police station." He pointed to a wizened old lady, selling apples on the corner across the street. "I would bet those are poisoned apples. You're telling me you're not worried?"

"Iris isn't my girlfriend."

"Right. Because that was the important part."

Barry folded his arms over his chest. "Are you scared? I've never let Central down, and I'm not going to start now."

Leonard shook his head. "Forget it. You're here now. Look around the area—"

"I've got it." Barry nodded and sped off, returning to Leonard's side in a matter of seconds. "I think I found something."

"Oh?" Leonard stared at Barry expectantly. The kid was so eager to run off on his own—Leonard wasn't quite sure if Barry wanted to work with him because he needed a partner, or if he just wanted an audience. "By all means. Dazzle me."

Barry frowned for a second and then shook his head. "There's one of those outdoor ashtrays across the street that has like, ten cigarette butts in it. They aren't more than an hour or two old, and I found the same brand at two of the other locations. I think one of our two people is a chain smoker when they get stressed."

Leonard nodded. "That's something, at least."

"Guys?" Cisco's voice came over the communicator. "Hartley and I may have extrapolated the next place that's gonna be hit."

"Great," Barry said, and then he looked at Leonard. "Want a ride?"

Leonard bit back his entirely inappropriate response and smirked. "Thought you were gonna make me walk."

Barry grinned and vanished in a bolt of lightning. Leonard had just an instant to be disappointed before he was scooped up in Barry's arms, pressed tight against Barry as they raced through the city. Being so close while Barry was running was incredible, the sparks left by each step flaring with enough light to leave them illuminated through the streets. It was different from anything else Leonard had experienced, leaving him winded from the adrenaline rush. If running felt even a fraction to Barry like it did to Leonard—

It was over too soon, and Leonard realized that Barry had actually been carrying him only when Barry set him down again, and the pain that he'd already grown so used to came back, making him stumble. 

" _How_?" Leonard asked, or tried to, but his voice was gone, the word locked in his throat without even a rasp to communicate his struggle.

Barry turned away from him without noticing anything, stretching his long arms over his head as he went over to Cisco. The room was colder than it had been even ten minutes ago, the sparkle of ice crystals layered on Caitlin's desk drawing his eye. Leonard looked around the room. Hartley twirled a small flute between his fingers instead of a pen as he squinted at his computer screen. Cisco's hair, long and dark and lustrous, pulled back in a braid and decorated with flowers, and Lisa watched the room much like Leonard was, a strange avarice glittering in her eyes.

They were all succumbing to the magic invading Central City, and it was insidious how natural it seemed.

Leonard sat on the edge of a table, stretching his legs out with a silent wince, and rubbed his calves unobtrusively, although he couldn't resist smirking when Hartley's eyes flitted from his computer screen to Leonard and back again.

"The fluctuations have occurred in every part of Central except Windsor Heights and Petersburg," Cisco said. "I mean, they could be trying the forest on for size next, but we think that these two seem to be the most likely target."

"It's as good an idea as any," Barry agreed. "I found clove cigarette butts at the scene too, so that's at least some kind of lead." 

"They've disappeared so fast that it almost makes me wonder how they're getting from place to place," Caitlin said. "You don't think they're teleporters. Like Peek-a-boo?" 

Leonard was already shaking his head when Caitlin looked up from her computer screen, and Barry echoed the movement. "No," Barry said. "I think that at least one of them is waiting around, and we've just had bad luck trying to get eyes on them. Maybe whatever they're doing is getting them tired enough that they have to spend some time recuperating." He glanced at the clock. "We don't have that much longer to wait, so—" He turned to Leonard and arched an eyebrow. "One more stop before we call it a day? I'll take Windsor if you take Petersburg."

Leonard was tempted to ask why Barry needed him at all, since he was fast enough to keep a patrol going through both sites. It could have been something as simple as distraction, though, and Barry would be more likely to rescue civilians who ended up in danger if he had to choose one or the other. Leonard normally despised people who couldn't take care of themselves, but no one was ever prepared for magic, especially not the kind that appeared to warp the very fabric of your being.

Leonard crossed his arms over his chest and nodded his agreement. Barry's smile was so immediate and pleased that it left Leonard winded, a fierce ache of longing rising inside of him as he traced the curve of Barry's smile with his eyes. The desire to reach out and touch was so strong that Leonard had to turn away, had to wonder if it was the fairy tale or his own emotions that he was fighting.

"I can help," Lisa said, and she raised her hand to her head, rubbing her forehead. "I don't know what the magic is doing to me, but I can feel it, like… I'd know the answers if I was only asked the right thing."

Cisco pursed his lips, chewing on the end of his pen thoughtfully. "I don't know if it's a good idea to encourage you or not." He seemed to realize what he was saying, and shook his head immediately. "Not that you aren't trustworthy. I don't mean that. But if we take advantage of the magic, we don't know what toll it'll take on you."

"I can't ask you to put yourself in danger," Barry said slowly, "but if there's anything you can do, anything any of us can do to stop Central from being destroyed, don't we have an obligation to try?"

Leonard shook his head and snapped his fingers at Hartley—Hartley looked offended, but Leonard made another small gesture, reaching out for the tablet next to him. 

"You okay?" Hartley asked, and the very surprising and very real concern in his eyes melted some of Leonard's defensiveness.

 _Lost my voice_ , Leonard signed, shrugging his shoulders, and Hartley's eyes lit up, darting from Leonard's hands to his face and back again. He'd started learning ASL only a few months ago, when he'd realized Hartley had what it took to be a Rogue, and he didn't have the vocabulary for everything he wanted to say.

"Right." Hartley looked at Leonard for a second longer and then waved to catch Lisa's attention. Lisa glanced over at them, her eyes worried when Leonard tilted his head, asking her silently to join them.

She pulled away from Cisco and Barry to join Leonard and Hartley on their side of the room. "It's gotten worse, hasn't it?" Lisa wrapped her arms around herself, and Leonard didn't bother to answer, choosing instead to scrawl a quick note on the tablet with his finger.

 _Doesn't matter what's happening with me_ , he wrote. _Want you safe. Be careful._

Lisa's mouth curved into a smile, tremulous, but still teasing, just for him. "You're always looking out for me."

Barry sped over to their little group—it hadn't escaped Leonard's notice that they'd separated along very clear lines when things started getting bad. Team Flash and the Rogues, not always fighting but never playing entirely nice. "Everything's okay, right?" Barry ducked his head to get a better look at Leonard's face, and Leonard smirked in response. "Len?"

"Peachy," Lisa answered for him, and Leonard huffed a silent laugh. 

Barry didn't entirely relax, reaching out toward Leonard, only to drop his hand in the next second. Lisa and Leonard shared one more warm look—Lisa didn't seem to care how vulnerable it made them, to have their affection so silently and obviously on display, but then Barry and Cisco and Caitlin knew about Lewis, had helped Lisa get the bomb out of her neck. That sort of thing created a bond, whether any of them wanted to acknowledge it or not. 

"We're okay," she said, and stepped away from Leonard and tugged her shirt down, smoothing her hands over the fabric in nervousness, and she sucked in a slow breath. "Okay. Let's see if we can make the magic work for us." She hesitated for another second, and then ventured an almost timid, "Abracadabra?"

"Come on, chaotic neutral," Cisco whispered to himself.

The air seemed to shimmer, Lisa's eyes turning a strange, bronzy color, and Leonard narrowed his eyes as he watched her. "I think I feel it," she said, and then her smile grew sly, the way it always did when she was about to do something mischievous. "I’ll help you with your quest and task; I’ll help you find the way—but only if you smartly ask the question of the day."

Leonard drummed his fingers restlessly against the table he was sitting on. Rhyming wasn't a good sign.

"Okay, okay." Cisco rubbed his hands together. "Can you like, _do_ things, or is this strictly a magic 8-ball situation?"

"There isn’t much I cannot do, I’m very proud to say. Let's make a deal, but careful, you." Lisa glared at Barry and jabbed a finger in his direction. "There is a price to pay." Barry raised his hands defensively, taking a step back.

Hartley jolted in his seat and spun back to his computer, fingers flying over his keyboard. "I think I know what she's doing. Keep talking."

Barry nodded slowly, stepping closer to Lisa. Leonard didn't look directly at him but couldn't stop from tensing in anticipation. "Okay, let's try for big and see what happens. Can you stop what's going on in Central right now?"

Lisa pressed a finger to her mouth and then shook her head. "I told you once, I’ll tell you twice: I can save the day. But it would cost a mighty price you can’t afford to pay."

Barry winced and shrugged. "Oh, well. Worth a try."

"What about this?" Cisco asked. "What would you bargain for a few more questions?"

Lisa's grin was flirtatious as she leaned closer to Cisco. "Well, that depends on what you’ve got, I think it’s fair to say, but lucky me, you’re rather hot—"

Leonard pulled the silver ring off his pinky finger and tossed it to her. There was a difference between Lisa stealing kisses because she liked Cisco and using sex as a trading commodity under the influence of magic. Lisa reached out without looking and closed her fingers around the ring. When she looked at Leonard again, her eyes were clouded with worry.

 _I trust you not to lose it,_ Leonard wrote, and Lisa nodded, slipping the ring on her thumb. She turned back to Cisco with a sad smile. 

"My brother’s ring is quite a trade; I take it with no glee. But anyway, the price is paid, so ask me questions three."

Cisco darted another nervous look between Lisa and Leonard, and then he cleared his throat, a delicate sound. "Do we have their locations right?" 

Lisa's skin glowed with an eerie inner light, as if her skin had grown translucent. 

"I have to say, you’ve got them right, but they’ve almost got this won. I don’t know how you’ll win this fight; the damage has been done."

"We've got it," Barry answered immediately. "I can fix anything that happens today."

"Barry," Caitlin said quietly. "That's not a good idea. You shouldn't even be thinking it."

Barry shook his head. "I'm not afraid of time wraiths."

"You should be," Hartley said, shuddering. "Those things were terrible."

Cisco waved them away, focusing on Lisa again. "Who's doing it?"

"I see a meta, cloaked and fair, with hands of glowing light. The second, you should be aware, wields magic dark as night."

"Be careful," Hartley said. "We only have one more question."

Caitlin frowned at Lisa and bit her lip. "Where are they?"

"The meta is in Windsor Heights, smoking on a swing. In Petersburg, the magic rite’s inside a sorcerous ring."

Leonard frowned and jumped down from his perch on the edge of the table, wincing when his feet touched the ground. Once he'd caught his balance, he walked over to Lisa, taking her hand in his and shaking his head. Lisa sucked in a slow, deep breath and exhaled—her skin stopped glowing, and she reached behind her to grab at the edge of a table, her knees gone weak.

"So you think this woman is, what, being used?" Barry crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his fingers against his biceps.

Lisa shrugged. "I'm not psychic, Flash. We're playing with fairy tales and hoping we don't get burned. I think this guy is using his magic in conjunction with these EM spikes, though. It would make sense."

"I have a hypothesis," Hartley said, turning his chair around and looking between Lisa and Barry. "If what we saw is what's going on in the rest of Central, then it makes sense—I think people are being forced to follow the structure of their fairy tale. The children following me around earlier, for instance. Caitlin over there freezing her desk. Even Cold here, not being able to talk."

"What do you mean he can't talk?" Barry blurred into place next to Leonard, tilting his head to peer into Leonard's face. He looked more skeptical than concerned, and Leonard had to admit it stung a little. "Len, you should've told me something was going on." 

Leonard shook his head and tried to wave Barry off, but he reached out and touched Leonard again, the way he always seemed to be touching Leonard now, unafraid and familiar. The urge to touch Barry back welled in him like a wave, and he knew it was the magic. It didn't stop him from wanting to reach out and cup Barry's face in his hands, to push back the Flash's hood and look for as long as he hungered to. Lisa cleared her throat, and Leonard looked away almost guiltily, pulling away from Barry and letting go of Lisa's hand. If Leonard was lucky, they'd get this resolved before he had to confess anything, and then he'd spend the next six months working on a heist to keep himself distracted.

"Anyway," Hartley said, annoyed, "Lisa, you're asking for payment in return for favors."

Lisa nodded. "You're right. It was sort of vague before Lenny gave me his ring." She lowered her eyes as she twisted the ring around her thumb. "I felt very greedy."

"So you're saying that not much has changed," Cisco teased, and Lisa tossed her hair over her shoulder, refusing to give him a response.

"The most well-known story with someone bargaining, for lack of a better word, is Rumpelstiltskin. His tale ended when his true name was guessed."

"You think someone saying my name is going to break the magic on me?" Lisa snorted, resting a hand on her hip. "Everyone here knows my name. I'm not the mysterious one." She looked pointedly at Barry, who shrugged and smiled at Leonard so fast that Leonard wasn't entirely sure he didn't imagine it. "Ugh, you guys are so gross."

"It can't hurt to try," Caitlin said. "Three guesses? That's the version I remember."

Lisa crossed her arms over her chest. "It's only going to take one guess."

"You may have to make the agreement," Hartley suggested, and Lisa frowned.

"An agreement for what? I promise to behave myself if you guess my real name?"

"Sounds good." Cisco smiled in delight and clasped his hands, a cardinal lighting on his shoulder and singing.

Leonard rolled his eyes. He was in constant pain and couldn't even talk, and he hadn't been this frustrated in months.

"Okay." Lisa exhaled. "Shoot."

"Your name's Lisa Snart," Barry's voice was firm, but Lisa flinched and shook her head.

"Are you all right?" Cisco asked.

"That was weird." Lisa looked around the room, her eyes wide. "It was like a shock of-of—disgust? I only ever feel that way when I'm looking at an ugly pair of shoes."

"What does that even mean?" 

Everyone turned to look at Leonard, and he shrugged helplessly, reaching for his tablet. _Lise, maybe?_

"That's sweet." Caitlin looked strangely happy, like thinking of Lisa's nickname was cute. "Is that it, then? It's not Lisa, it's Lise?"

Lisa shook her head, and she swallowed. "What happens if we reach three and we don't get it?"

Not gonna happen, Leonard wanted to say, but he settled for watching her until she caught his eye. She inhaled, held it, and exhaled when Leonard nodded. Cisco's soft gasp startled them, and Leonard turned to see Cisco raising his hand to his mouth, his eyes bright.

"Is your name," Cisco whispered through his fingers, "Golden Glider?"

An invisible force rippled from Lisa, and she gasped, arching, stumbling back until she hit her elbow against one of the computer towers. She clutched her elbow, wincing, and then her face twisted in rage before she dug her nails into her jacket, snarling as she ripped through the leather, through the fabric of her shirt until she reached skin, leaving angry, bloody furrows behind. Leonard leapt forward and grabbed her hand before she clawed herself again, but Lisa shrieked, clawing at her thigh with her other hand and ripping through her jeans. Barry flashed to her other side, yanking her hand away, and she screamed again, a raw, furious sound that Leonard hadn't heard from her in years. She gnashed her teeth as she struggled against their hold, and Leonard tried shouting for help, forgetting for a moment that his voice was useless.

Cisco shrunk back in his chair, his voice a soft chant of apologies as Caitlin calmly stood from her desk and walked over to the locked cabinet of her medical supplies. She methodically ripped open a syringe package. "Is she allergic to anything?" 

Leonard shook his head, wincing as he braced himself against Lisa's weight. She was gnawing her mouth bloody, but something in her was stronger, whether it was from the magic or just because she was pissed off. It was all Leonard could do to keep her in place with Barry's help. Caitlin filled the syringe with a sedative and walked over to Barry's side, pulling on Lisa's shirt and jacket until she got access to Lisa's shoulder. She jabbed the syringe into Lisa's shoulder, and after a second Lisa's eyes fluttered before she slumped between Barry and Leonard. Leonard swept Lisa up into his arms and glared, his gaze cutting across the room as Caitlin guided him toward one of the medical beds. 

"Why did she do that?" Cisco asked, his eyes glossy. "I gave the right answer, didn't I? I was trying to help!"

Leonard ignored Cisco, laying Lisa out on the bed and sweeping her hair away from her face. He exhaled a shaky breath and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Her fingernails were jagged and torn—she was going to be furious when she woke up. He eased her out of her jacket as Caitlin returned to the bed with medical supplies, and watched with unblinking eyes as she dabbed the scratches on Lisa's arm with disinfectant.

Lisa moaned, twisting and turning on the bed, and Caitlin leaned over, pressing a kiss to Lisa's forehead. Lisa stilled, her face relaxing as she melted back against the bed. "She isn't in any more pain." Leonard could only nod his gratitude, having lost the tablet somewhere in his rush to get to Lisa, but he tensed again as Caitlin gently restrained Lisa's wrists. "It's for her own protection," she said. "I'll remove them when she wakes up."

Leonard limped back and forth at Lisa's side, unable to remain still even though the pain of walking was a torment. He ran his hands over his head, a nervous movement he couldn't stop, and then he caught sight of Hartley and stalked toward him, hauling Hartley up and slamming him against his desk. Leonard's rage needed an outlet, and it seethed inside him, making him breathless and desperate.

Hartley flinched in anticipation, but then Barry grabbed Leonard's arm, detaching his hand from Hartley's shirt and pulling him back. "Lisa's okay, Len! She'll be okay, we'll make it okay."

Leonard shook Barry off and staggered away again, each step restless and jerky. Even the pain of walking couldn't clear his head. 

"I didn't know she would do that," Hartley protested. "Look, the original Rumpelstiltskin said he ran away. I didn't know she would try to hurt herself."

Cisco swallowed, pressing his hand to his chest as a bird lit on his shoulder, preening him.

Caitlin stepped into the room, clearing her throat. "I was able to sedate her, for now. She'll be safe until we end this."

Leonard glared at Hartley one more time and then stormed back over to Lisa's bedside, taking her hand and squeezing it. She was going to be okay. Leonard would make sure of it. Damn it, he'd _warned_ her.

"Cisco, I'm going to take Len to Windsor Heights and try to figure out what's going on," Barry said behind him. "You guys have it here?"

"You'll need a few minutes to look around," Cisco said. "Be careful."

Leonard kept his eyes on Lisa, on her restrained hands and feet, his stomach twisted in knots as he watched her sleep. He heard Barry approaching him slowly from behind. 

"I'm going to Windsor Heights." Barry rested a hand on Lisa's bed, fingers tracing the strap around her ankle. "I know you want to stay here with Lisa, but I could use your help, if you wanted to be back up." Leonard cut a glance to his right, staring silently at Barry from the corner of his eye. "If we get lucky, we can get this done before Lisa wakes up."

Leonard closed his eyes and nodded once in agreement. He couldn't help but look at Lisa one more time—her hair spread over her pillow, her jacket removed and folded, set off to the side, how Caitlin had kindly removed her boots. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her fingers before he gently set her hand on her bed. 

"Before you go," Caitlin said softly, and at some point her white doctor's coat had become a cloak, lined with pale fur, "I think I may be able to do something to help." Leonard arched an eyebrow in inquiry, and she smiled briefly. "I'm pretty sure I know what I am, and that means that this"—Caitlin stepped into Leonard's space and rose up on the tips of her toes, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth—"should work."

The kiss was a surprise, but even more importantly was the way it burned like frostbite through Leonard, cauterizing his anger and pain and fear. Everything felt distant, unreal, but he felt more like himself than he had in months, like there was a wall of ice between him and the world.

"Why did you do that?" Barry asked, but Leonard reached out and squeezed Caitlin's arm in thanks. "No, seriously—"

"Barry, please." Caitlin pushed her cloak behind her and faced Barry. "It's nothing for you to get jealous over. You need to leave and save Central."

Cisco stood. "It's almost time. Once you're close, I'll be able to pinpoint exactly where you need to be."

Barry huffed an annoyed sigh. "Yeah. Okay. Ready?" He turned to Leonard with a curious look, and Leonard nodded, taking a step closer. He could still feel the pain, but it was like it belonged to someone else, and he was grateful for the reprieve. Barry blurred and the wind of his passing blew loose papers around the room before he caught Leonard in his arms, much as he had the first time. It was so fast that Leonard couldn't appreciate it until it was already over.

They separated and looked around. Windsor Heights was an upscale neighborhood, and Leonard actually knew the district pretty well. He'd stolen from half of those houses. 

They were in one of the small parks, little more than a tiny green field, a slide and a swing set. "Is this it, Cisco?" Barry asked, looking around, and Leonard followed suit. 

There were some animals, since animals seemed to be overrunning the city—he could see, just from where he was standing, three small birds, two foxes, a couple of wolves sunning themselves in the field. There was a woman in a red cloak sitting on one of the swings, idly shifting back and forth without actually leaving the ground. Leonard nudged Barry and arched his eyebrow, jerking his head in her direction. His instincts were screaming at him to run, but there wasn't anywhere to run. Not at this point.

"Can't hurt to try," Barry agreed, and Leonard followed behind him, wondering when Barry's red Flash suit had become more of a rusty red, rough embroidery decorating his shoulders. Lisa had warned them that they were reacting too late. He wondered what would happen when they all succumbed to their story archetype, wondered how many people would actually get happy endings.

"Hey," Barry said, and he flashed in front of the girl with the red hood, reaching out to still the swing. "I don't have to worry about second hand smoke, but you should think of the kids." 

The girl in the red hood tilted her head up and took a hit from her cigarette, insolently blowing the smoke up at Barry. "I was wondering when the Flash would catch up with me. Didn't think it would take so long."

"You're the one behind this." Barry was fearless, standing in front of her like there wasn't anything she could do to hurt him, and Leonard unlatched his cold gun, leaving it loose and ready in case he needed to grab it.

"Not exactly," she said, and raised her hands to push back her red hood. She had long dark hair coiled into a braid, and Leonard stepped closer, staying well away from Barry. Whatever was going to happen here, he didn't intend to make it easy for her to strike both of them at once. "But there's not really any time to explain." She pushed the sleeves of her dress up, and her hands began to glow with a pale orange light.

Leonard's cold gun was in his hand and firing in a second. He was done taking chances.

The woman shrieked, falling to her knees, hands frozen and black with frostbite. Leonard had disarmed her, disabled her, maybe, but she was still alive. Barry spun toward Leonard and flashed the gun out of his hands. The woman jerked her head in Leonard's direction, her eyes glowing the same color that her hands had been seconds ago, and Leonard felt an invisible wall of magic ripple out from her, slamming into him and making him stumble. He fell to the ground and shook his head, trying to clear it. He reached out to Barry, not quite sure what he wanted to do, and he watched with a shocky detachment as his fingers crumbled away, foaming onto the grass.

"Len!" Barry reached out, but he was too late. Leonard could feel the numbness travel up his arms, his chest, his legs, as he came apart in waves.

At least it didn't hurt.

At least this time, Leonard wasn't alone.

~*~

Leonard woke slowly, splayed out across his bed, draped in warm blankets, and for a moment, he wondered where he was, why he was so comfortable. There was no hum of a ship, no sturdy and ultimately uncomfortable bunk.

He was in a bed. An actual bed. The sound of traffic in the streets came through the window, the dull white noise of a city in movement, and he smiled as he opened his eyes. He wasn't at his favorite apartment, but he was at one of his safe houses, in Central.

He lingered in bed, his eyes closed against the sunlight. He knew with a crystal certainty that in the next couple of minutes his phone was going to vibrate with a text, that Barry needed him at STAR Labs for something.

Leonard waited.

His phone remained silent.

He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face. The _déjà vu_ was so strong that he opened his eyes and glared at his phone like it had personally offended him. He shook his head and threw off the covers, shuffling to the kitchen to start his coffee before he went to the bathroom for a shower. 

He didn't particularly have any plans for the day, maybe a stop by the grocery store. He could drop by Lisa's and take a look at their next heist—it was always fun poking holes in Lisa's strategy.

Leonard got dressed and texted Lisa as he cooked his breakfast—he'd almost finished eating it by the time she finally texted him back. He washed his plate and his glass, setting them on the dish rack to dry, latched the cold gun into its holster and grabbed his helmet as he headed out the door. If Team Flash didn't need him, he'd chase his adrenaline high somewhere else. Nothing could replace the satisfaction he got from doing a job well.

He texted Lisa that he was going to run an errand first and put on his helmet before he headed to STAR Labs. He only needed a minute to check in. Just in case.

He pulled into a parking spot and nudged his kickstand down, frowning at the ache in his foot. He made a note to double check the inserts and went up to the door. He whipped out his keycard and slid it through the magnetic card reader, smirking when the door swung open and let him inside. The place was a dump, even now, but he still had a little thrill of triumph, because he wasn't breaking in. Because he was welcome. Leonard spun the keycard over his fingers as he headed into the cortex, and he wondered who would be the most surprised to see him.

"Snart!" Cisco, of course. He was nothing if not predictable.

"What are you doing here?" It was Barry that drew Leonard up short, the kid's voice tense and almost angry, and he arched an eyebrow in response.

"You gave me a keycard, Red." Leonard flipped the card over his fingers again. "Kinda means I can show up when I want."

"No." Barry shook his head and flashed to Leonard's side. "No, we're not doing this. Not today. Go home."

Leonard's surprise was mirrored in Cisco's and Caitlin's faces, and he turned toward Barry, tilting his sunglasses down so Barry couldn't miss his glare. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah," Cisco said. "I mean, I'm not a fan of having Snart around, but half an hour ago, he was all you could talk about."

Barry rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, Cisco."

"I'm flattered," Leonard said dryly. "Good to know I've got fans." Barry groaned and grabbed Leonard's arm, steering him out of the cortex. Once they were alone in the hallway, Leonard shook Barry off. "Wanna tell me what's going on here?"

"Nothing's going on," Barry insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall. "You should go home. Take the day off. I can take care of everything."

"Didn't ask to knock off early. I asked what was going on."

"Don't worry about it." Barry shook his head. "You and Lisa can take a day trip to Star and I'll have everything done by the time you get back."

Leonard scoffed. "First, only you would think of a trip to Star as a 'day trip.' Second, I don't like surprises."

Barry shook his head as he stood there, cool as a cucumber. "Look. I'm just saying that we've got it. If you don't want to get out of Central, go home and watch Netflix or something."

Leonard tilted his head, and there was something about the fierceness in Barry's eyes, the solidness of his stance that made Leonard realize he was serious. "You're trying to bench me."

The tension eased out of Barry's body, and he nodded eagerly, his arms unfolding and falling to his sides. "You get it. Just for today, I promise."

Disbelief made Leonard stand there like an idiot and blink at Barry, who was looking more and more hopeful the longer he remained silent. Leonard covered the three steps between them and brought up his forearm, resting it against the wall as he leaned into Barry's space. "You told me that you needed my help. That having me in Central made you better."

"And that's still all true!" Barry's hands fluttered between them, like he didn't know where to put them. "Having you around makes things better, it does! I just—"

"You remember what I said to you in the woods?" Leonard's anger was a seething, simmering heat in his gut, and he fought the urge to sneer. "Central's my home, but the game is what I do. It's what I'm good at. You start acting like you have the right to ice me out, and I'm done." Leonard dropped his arm and pulled away from Barry, straightening his jacket. "I'm going back to the Waverider."

"No!" Barry's eyes were dark and pleading, and he reached out to touch Leonard, stopping at the last second, his fingers hovering above Leonard's wrist. "You can't go back to the Waverider. Please. I just. I can't—"

Tension built in Leonard's shoulders, and he slowly rolled his head back until his neck popped. It was only a momentary relief, but it allowed him to look back at Barry again. "You don't want my help. You don't want me to leave. Starting to sound like you want to lock me up, Barry." Leonard cut a narrow look at Barry—it was almost worse, in a way, how apologetic the kid looked. "I get antsy when I'm locked up." Barry's gaze skittered right and left, and each breath he took seemed to make him shake. It was so unlike him that Leonard took an unwilling step forward in concern. "Kid?"

Barry's mouth worked for a second until he finally got the words choked out. "You died. You died out there."

Leonard smirked. "I got better."

"Damn it, Len. This isn't a joke!" Barry rubbed a trembling hand over his face. "If you're here, I can do something. Out there—out there, you can die and I wouldn't even know. You died and I didn't even _know_."

Leonard's smirk faded, and he frowned again, not quite sure what to do with himself. He rubbed his thumb over his palm and shifted from left to right with nervous energy before he shook his head. "Why would I expect you to know? People die. You can't help everyone." 

Barry's voice cracked when he spoke again. "You turned into—you were right in front of me and you turned into foam. I _felt_ you in my hands." Barry rubbed his fingers together as if he were remembering the sensation and shuddered. "I wasn't afraid, I knew I could go back, I knew I was going to go back because I ghosted, I just didn't tell anyone. If you leave, horrible things could happen and I wouldn't even know if you needed me." Barry helplessly shook his head and leaned back against the wall, sliding down it as he stared at his hands. 

From the future then. Barry never learned. Leonard sighed and crouched down next to him, propping his forearm on his knee, his eyes pinned on Barry. "What's this about?"

Barry huffed a laugh before he looked up at Leonard again, his eyes damp and clear. "You scare the crap out of me." 

They stared at each other for a second, two, and something eased in Barry's expression—a sort of recognition that made Leonard's skin buzz with anticipation. Barry reached up, curling his hand around the back of Leonard's neck, and pulled him down. Leonard overbalanced, his hand shooting out and smacking the wall as he went to his knees, and his mind blanked when Barry tilted his head, pressing their mouths together. Barry's hand was hot against the back of Leonard's neck, his mouth firm and chaste. There wasn't the promise of anything more, no parting of Barry's lips or a hint of tongue, but Leonard's heart still pounded in his chest, his throat tight. He kept one hand planted against the wall and cautiously pulled Barry away from the wall, sliding his other hand over the curve of Barry's back, his fingers flat over Barry's shirt. They knelt like that for a minute, maybe two, and Leonard was torn between pulling away or kissing Barry harder, frozen into an indecision he was unaccustomed to. 

Barry pulled away first and let his head fall back against the wall. It exposed his throat, and Leonard had an insane urge to close the distance between them again, to mouth at the curve of Barry's Adam's apple and find out how his skin tasted. Barry said something, but Leonard missed it, his blood thrumming in his ears. It was only when Barry reached out to touch him again that Leonard realized he'd been staring at Barry without saying anything at all.

"Was I right?" Barry asked, his hand tightening on Leonard's jacket. "Was it me?"

Leonard raced over the last few minutes in his mind. Something had happened at some point today, something that got out of control. Barry went back in time. Kissed him. There was some context clue he was missing. There had to be. "Was what you?"

Barry licked his lips, but Leonard refused to follow the motion, staring into Barry's eyes like he could force the kid to give up the game and tell him everything. "I read everything I could this morning about fairy tales, and—"

"Hey, where'd you—" Cisco popped his head out the door and looked around, frowning when he realized they were both kneeling on the floor. "What the hell are you doing sitting in the hallway?"

"Talking," Barry and Leonard said in unison, and Cisco rolled his eyes.

"Oh, _sorry_. Don't let me stop your talking. Jeez." Cisco vanished back into the cortex.

Leonard shook his head and looked back at Barry. "C'mon. Up." The hard tile floor of the hallway was starting to make his knees ache anyway. Leonard stood, brushed the dust off the knees of his jeans and then looked at Barry again. "You were saying."

"True love's kiss," Barry blurted, and his face went as red as his suit. "I mean, that's what you needed to stay safe, and—"

Leonard wanted to hold onto the remnants of his annoyance, but he softened as he watched Barry fumble through his words. He smiled, a little awkward, perhaps, but genuine. "That's why you kissed me? True love? It's all so sudden. I don't know what to say, Scarlet."

Barry shut his mouth, the corner of his lips twitching like he wanted to smile back at Leonard. "If it's not me, we can get someone else. Um. Sara? Mick? Ray?" That last name came out with a little squeak at the end, like Barry was forcing it. "Kendra? Look, can you just say something, because the last time I ran back in time and tried to kiss someone, it ended up a complete disaster, and I—"

"Barry." Leonard rested his hand on Barry's shoulder, his thumb pressed against Barry's collarbone, and Barry's mouth closed with a startlingly loud clack of teeth. Leonard smirked as he backed Barry up one last step, pressing him against the wall again. "You talk too damned much."

Leonard moved first this time, Barry's body a long, warm line against his, and Leonard barely had to tilt his head to get the right angle to steal a kiss. Barry exhaled as he reached up to cup Leonard's jaw, and his mouth softened, parting to suck at Leonard's bottom lip. Leonard smiled into the kiss as Barry stepped forward, pressing closer to him, and Leonard let his hand settle against the small of Barry's back before he explored upward, mapping out the knobs of Barry's spine. Leonard caressed the back of Barry's neck to feel him shiver, and continued upward to cradle the back of his head, cautiously curling his fingers into Barry's hair. Leonard stroked his hand through Barry's hair a second time, fingers catching to tug at the strands, and he teased Barry's parted lips with the tip of his tongue. The moment Barry gave in and let Leonard lick into his mouth—it shook Leonard with the force of his want. It felt like the world was quaking beneath him, his heart pounding in his chest, and he curled an arm around Barry's back and jerked him in closer, just because he could, because he needed to, and Barry coiled an arm around Leonard's neck, kissing him back like there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

It was strangely gentle. Whenever Leonard had allowed himself to imagine something like that happening, he always thought it would be after a fight, adrenaline spurring him on. Barry had been reckless, traveling back through time, but Leonard didn't know what to do with the information that Barry had run back in time for _him_.

There was a muffled shriek at Leonard's left, and they broke the kiss to find Caitlin staring at them, eyes wide and her hand over her mouth. She spun on her heel and went right back into the cortex. "Cisco! You said they were just _talking_!"

Leonard scoffed at her strained, high voice, and Barry started laughing helplessly, his shoulders shaking. Leonard turned his face to nuzzle at Barry's temple for a second, before he reluctantly let him go. "I'm not leaving."

Barry opened his mouth like he was going to argue but eventually shook his head. "You're right. You don't need to go anywhere. This time, I'm going to win."

~*~

"Are you seriously telling us you went back in time again?" Caitlin glared at Barry, folding her arms over her chest. "I don't think you're ever going to learn."

"It was important, Caitlin—"

"It's always going to be important, Barry. It's part of life. You have to live with the bad things, just like the good things."

"Not this bad thing," Barry said, and Leonard noticed the barely-there flicker of Barry's eyes glancing in his direction. "You're right. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did."

"Tell us what we need to know," Leonard said. "Keep it simple."

"We're"—Barry looked at his watch—"ten minutes away from our deadline. It's two people, for sure. Pull up a map?" Cisco put a map on the central display, and Barry circled two places, one in Brookfield and one in Danville.

"That's a lot of ground to cover," Cisco said.

"That's why I need you guys here," Barry said. "I remember that the exact location was in this radius. Now that you know where to look, you'll be able to clue me in on the electro-magnetic activity and give me the exact location. Assuming I haven't already found who's doing this."

"You could drop me off in Brookfield," Leonard said. "I'll be more use on the scene."

Barry shook his head. "No way. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Leonard took a breath. Held it. Exhaled. "Barry, we'll stay in contact. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything unusual."

Barry didn't look entirely convinced, but he nodded. "I only got eyes on one of them. I looked through the police database, but she didn't have any priors. She was wearing a red cloak, but it could have started out as a hoodie, or some other color altogether. She was smoking clove cigarettes. Black hair." Barry tilted his head, rubbing the back of his neck, and Leonard averted his eyes, his hands itching to reach out and touch. "She was doing some sort of magic, but icing her hands didn't stop her, so we have to be careful."

"Wait, Snart iced someone, and you're okay with it?" Cisco asked.

"Of course I'm not okay with it." Barry shook his head, not quite turning Cisco's way. "But I also can't blame him."

And that was interesting. "We made a deal. No killing unless absolutely necessary."

Barry narrowed his eyes at him. "No killing at _all_."

Leonard looked down and examined his fingernails, pretending that he hadn't heard Barry, and Caitlin cleared her throat in exasperation.

"We now have eight minutes," she reminded them, and Barry dragged his hand through his hair before he blurred, tossing Leonard an earpiece.

"Okay, fine, let's do this." Barry barely gave Leonard time to put the earpiece in, and the only warning Leonard got was the flash of lightning coming straight for him. It stole his breath, his heart thumping immediately from adrenaline, but somehow the acceleration wasn't as bad as he expected, not with Barry holding him close. Again, Leonard wondered what had happened that led to Barry's discovery of his feelings—he hadn't quite come to terms with them himself—but he couldn't resist closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to Barry's shoulder for the few seconds Barry spent speeding them through the city.

Leonard stumbled when Barry let him go, and he blinked away the disorientation as he looked around, and then Barry's voice echoed through the earpiece. "I dropped you off where the fluctuations appeared the other today."

"Got it." Leonard looked around more carefully now that he'd regained his bearings. 

He could see the university off in the distance, and he was at the edge of a man-made pond, decorated prettily with water lilies and a family of ducks. He had—he looked at his watch—seven minutes and eighteen seconds. He was looking for someone out of place. A smoker. Someone wearing a red hoodie. There was no one in his direct vicinity, so Leonard took another look around, heading toward the small outdoor gazebo and the water fountain. Wariness buzzed in his head and he slowed down, heeding the warning as he looked around again.

He squinted in the distance, and there actually was a woman sitting in the gazebo, her head tilted toward the ceiling as she blew smoke through her nose. "Barry," Leonard murmured, "I think I've got her. What do you see on your end?"

"There's nothing, I—wait. There's a guy here. Gaunt, tall… Okay, and glowing. Definitely glowing!"

"Be careful, Red." Leonard swallowed, pushing back his own instincts clamoring for him to run. He didn't have time to worry about Barry. He checked the time again. Five minutes. He took a deep breath and then jogged up to the gazebo. The woman eyed him when he sat, and he nodded. "Hey."

"Hey." She took another drag off her cigarette. "I'm trying to be alone here."

"Waiting for something?" Leonard asked, crossing his right leg over his left knee and leaning back against the bench. "Getting up the courage to do something bad?"

She looked at him again. "You're Captain Cold."

"Guilty." Leonard inclined his head. Up close, she looked younger than he'd thought, hiding behind her makeup. "So what brings you to a city under the protection of Captain Cold _and_ the Flash?"

"You know, then." She took another long drag from her cigarette. "I told him it wasn't a good idea to use Central, but he didn't listen. Something about how the accelerator explosion made reality a little more pliable."

"Who's 'he'?"

"Faust," she whispered, and Leonard laughed.

"You've got ice water in your veins if you're sassing me with a German legend," Leonard said.

She frowned, stubbing out her cigarette on the bench next to her. "I'm serious."

"What's your name, kid?" Leonard asked. "I'd call you Red, but someone else has got dibs on that nickname."

"Nina," she said. "My name's Nina."

"Good." Leonard leaned forward, planting both feet on the ground as he looked at her. "I'm gonna guess what happened. You have some shiny ability. Faust, whoever that guy is, says he can use you, that you're special. How close am I?"

Nina laughed and rolled her eyes. "Faust wants his immortality back." Immortality. This wasn't Star City, for fuck's sake. "He said he'd make me his apprentice. That he'd let me watch the world burn."

Leonard snorted, and Nina scowled at him. "You know who likes to watch the world burn? People who don't care how hard it'll be to live in the ashes." He could feel his smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. Two minutes. And all she wanted was recognition. "You're chill. Ever think about joining the Rogues?" Nina stared at Leonard with wide eyes, her lips parting in surprise, and Leonard arched his eyebrow. "You're a meta-human, and you're a little too young to be a hardened killer. We'd put you up on a trial basis. You'd get a cool villain name. A place to sleep, if you wanted. We don't have benefits, but we've got enough cold, hard cash that it won't matter." Leonard leaned back against the bench, counting down the seconds in his head even as he relaxed, draping his arm over the ledge of his seat. 

"You're asking me to betray him." Nina's voice was flat and something in her tone made Leonard shake his head.

"You say he offered you immortality. Magic. The end of the world. Do you think a man like that is going to bother holding up his end of the bargain when he's got everything he wants?" Leonard shrugged, lazy and fluid. "Besides, I'm not asking you to betray him. All you have to do is sit with me for another forty-eight seconds without doing a thing."

Nina stared at Leonard with narrow eyes, and she fidgeted with her pack of cigarettes, turning it end over end. "The Rogues? Really?"

"A trial period," Leonard corrected. "Golden Glider makes the final decision."

Nina smiled at that, and Leonard could see the hero worship on her face. His little sister had a fan. Cute. 

Nina licked her lips, averting her eyes for a second. "I can do better than just sitting here," she confessed, and she reached out her hand, holding it in front of Leonard but not touching him. Leonard stared at her, and she smirked. Definitely a fan of Lisa. 

"I'm his apprentice, remember?"

Leonard nodded and reached out to touch Nina, their hands meeting in the middle, and she snapped her fingers, light springing up from beneath their feet like flowers. Leonard barely had a second to appreciate the sight before he found them standing somewhere in Danville, momentarily disoriented by the line of houses that all looked the same. 

Barry's lightning drew his eye, and he looked over to his left, calculating Barry's angle of attack to discover Faust's location. Faust was glowing, floating in the air as power rippled out of him in yellow waves, and below him several people, surrounded by a pale, thickening mist. Leonard released Nina's hand. "Hide. The Flash and I can take care of him."

"Can I kick him a little when you're done?" Nina asked, and Leonard had to pause and look back at her. She shrugged. "He made me get up at 4 a.m. I'm exhausted."

"Right." Leonard smirked and drew his cold gun from its holster. "Stay frosty." Leonard pulled down his glare goggles and walked forward, trusting Barry to dodge him as he walked into the trails of lightning that Barry left in his wake.

"You have no idea the forces that you're engaging!" Faust shouted.

"You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that this week alone," Barry said, and he paused by Leonard just long enough to give him a surprised look. "How'd you even get here?"

"Talked the girl around," Leonard said, scanning the scene.

"Okay. I'm going to try something, so just make sure to stay out of my way." 

Barry zipped away before Leonard could respond, speeding around the block in a long rectangle, lapping the neighborhood several times before he drew up short and flung out his hand, lightning crackling and sparking in the air in front of Faust. It didn't reach its target.

"He's got some sort of protection." Leonard's head buzzed with warning, and he fought the urge to scowl as he focused on Faust. There were bodies below him, and Faust glowed, and each one of the captured civilians arched in response as a fine pale vapor rose up between them. "He's using those people somehow."

"Got it," Barry said, and he raced around, snatching each person and dragging them away in a millisecond. 

With each person that Barry rescued, the pale tendrils weakened and faded. Leonard had a much simpler idea, and he aimed carefully at Faust with his cold gun before he attempted to make the shot. He didn't want to risk aiming too low and slowing Barry down, but there had to be a distraction. Faust threw up a hand, deflecting the cold beam, and Leonard removed his finger from the trigger when Barry flashed away with the last civilian. There was a low rumble of thunder in the air. Faust hissed as he fell from the air and stumbled forward when his feet hit the concrete. He grabbed the tufts of his white hair and scowled before he dropped his hands. 

"So you have delayed me," Faust said. "It's a shallow victory." He raised his hands, and globes of silver light started circling him.

More magic.

Leonard hated everything.

Faust held out his hand as though he were reaching out to Leonard, and Leonard jerked forward a step, feeling hazy and exhausted. Silver streaks of mist formed in the air, twisting toward Faust as he curled his fingers, encouraging the wisps to come to him. Leonard gasped for air as he fell to one knee, but he tried to ignore it, bringing the cold gun up for another shot.

Barry zipped back into the fray, arms windmilling to try and blow Faust away, and Leonard smirked at the sight of Barry's little tornado arms, his breath rushing back with Barry taking up Faust's attention.

Maybe he didn't hate _everything_.

There was another crackle of power, and Leonard's skin prickled from the change in pressure. He couldn't risk using his gun again with Barry in such close proximity to Faust—he could kill the kid if he slowed him down too much—so he focused on the street, half his attention on Barry and Faust and half his attention on the search for civilians. The only person he saw was Nina, hiding in the driveway of someone's house, crouching behind a car. He wondered for a moment if these houses were all empty. Surely someone was worried about the supervillain in their neighborhood.

"Another day, _Flash_ ," Faust said, and he flung a wave of force toward Barry that Barry dodged easily, and then vanished in a blinding light. 

Faust left Leonard and Barry standing in the middle of the street, looking around as though there was going to be something leaping out at them any second. Leonard spun around in a slow, uneasy circle, too keyed up to accept the sudden quiet. 

Barry flashed away, returning in two and a half seconds, completely baffled. "It… can't be that easy, right?" Barry asked.

Leonard shrugged. The warning system in his head was quiet, and he was grateful for the peace. "You've got a skewed idea of easy, kid. Maybe we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." He kept the cold gun out. It was pragmatic. "I'll take anti-climactic any day of the week."

"Was that really all we had to do?" Barry wondered, obviously talking to himself. "Just interrupt it?" He huffed a breath. "People died for this."

"Scarlet." Barry looked over at Leonard, his bafflement and frustration written all over his face. "You did good. Whatever happened yesterday—you stopped it. Let's just… take the win."

Barry shook his head. "Guess I'll have to." He glanced over at Nina. "See you back at the lab?" Leonard nodded, and Barry flashed out of sight. Leonard walked over to Nina, who who peeked over the side of the car unhappily.

"I was hoping I'd be able to kick him," she said.

"I'm sure you'll get the chance some day."

Nina stood, smoothing down her clothes before looking back at Leonard. "I was thinking I could call myself Cynosure," she suggested tentatively, and Leonard raised an eyebrow.

"That's a conversation for you and Glider," he said. "Come to Saints and Sinners tomorrow, and I'll get introductions started."

Nina nodded, lit another cigarette, and gestured with her hand, conjuring up another portal. She vanished in a sphere of light, and then Leonard was alone. Confused and uncertain what his future was going to hold, but he was rather optimistic, all things considered. A new recruit for the Rogues, an easy tussle, not dying.

It was a good day. Even if he did have to call a cab.

Leonard walked down the street, and pulled his phone from his pocket, texting Lisa he was on his way. 

~*~

It was later in the afternoon when Leonard headed back to STAR Labs, even though all he wanted to do was crash in his apartment with Chinese and mindless TV. Having no immediate crisis meant that Barry would want to talk about what had happened that morning, and Leonard… wasn't up to disappointing the kid just yet.

 _I'm at the labs_ , he texted. _Where are you?_

 _Be there in a second_ , came Barry's reply, and in three seconds he was there, stamping out a touch of smoke at his heels. He jammed his hands in his pockets and looked at Leonard like it was no big deal, like he hadn't made Leonard's heart flutter just by existing. Paradox and impossibility wrapped up in a young, pretty package. "Hi." 

"Hi," Leonard said back, just as inanely, and he closed his eyes. He couldn't afford to lose his head over Barry, and he was coming off like someone who was experiencing his first crush. "We should talk."

Barry swallowed and nodded. "There's a coffee shop a couple of blocks away," he suggested. "It's no Jitters, but it's quiet. Probably won't run into anyone we know."

Leonard nodded, and Barry started walking west, glancing at Leonard to make sure he followed. Leonard fell into step easily beside him, stealing the occasional look at the side of Barry's face.

"We've been flirting, haven't we?" Barry blurted, and Leonard arched his eyebrow. "I mean, I'm not reading that wrong, right? I didn't think about it earlier, but after the day I've had, I mean…"

Leonard scoffed, a smile hiding at the corner of his mouth. "I did kiss you."

"I kissed you first." Barry ducked his head, like that wasn't what he'd meant to say, and he ran his hand through his hair. Leonard's hand twitched, and he rubbed his fingers together, remembering the sensation of Barry's hair against his palm.

He stopped in place, and Barry looked at him, confusion written all over his face. "What happened between us in the"—He twirled his finger in the air—"other today?"

Barry scratched the back of his neck. "Nothing, really? I mean, we were all busy trying to stop Central from turning into Fairy Tale City."

Leonard hummed. "You mentioned something earlier—"

" _You_ said no details," Barry pointed out. "But you lost the ability to speak. There's only a couple of stories where that happens, but the turning into foam thing made it pretty clear."

Leonard nodded, eyes focused on Barry's face. "You realize you kissed me, and then stopped the whole thing from happening in the first place? Not that I don't appreciate the attempt to save my life."

Barry stepped closer to Leonard and leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Leonard's lips and then kissed him a second time, soft and sweet. "And now I kissed you because I wanted to."

Leonard swallowed. "And Iris?" He couldn't bring himself to speak very loud, not with Barry so close. 

"I"m always going to love her," Barry answered honestly, his eyes growing shiny. "But we tried that. It's just…not going to happen. Not in this life. We've both come to terms with it."

Leonard shook his head slowly. "This isn't gonna be a fairy tale. There's not a happy ending. Not with us."

Barry smirked at that, which was not what Leonard was expecting. "You must not read a lot of fairy tales. I'm not looking for happily ever after, Len. I just wanna see if I can have something. Real. With you."

Leonard opened his mouth to say something, but it was almost like Barry had stolen his ability to speak. Again, if what Barry had said could be believed.

"Unless you've changed your mind," Barry continued, his eyes darting to the side. "Just because I kissed you, it doesn't mean—"

"I do. Want." Leonard stumbled awkwardly over the words. Give him a con, and he could be the smoothest sonuvabitch you've ever seen. Something real, though—that was where it was the hardest. "You."

Barry blinked once, twice, and then laughed, his eyes bright as he reached out and squeezed Leonard's arm. "Oh, thank God, you're as bad at this as I am."

Leonard glowered at Barry for a good twenty seconds before he relented. "I'm not used to wanting something I can't steal."

"Who says you didn't steal me?" Barry teased.

"Maybe I don't want to." Leonard averted his eyes, bracing himself against Barry's response. He could picture a thousand different ways this would go, knew that the people most important in Barry's life wouldn't approve, that any attempt he made to get Barry's time would ultimately fail—

Barry ducked his head and leaned in, pressing a hard kiss to Leonard's mouth. "Okay. You didn't steal me."

"Barry—"

Barry stopped in his tracks and turned, bumping Leonard's shoulder. Running into Barry made Leonard pause, and that allowed Barry the time to lean in and kiss him again. Leonard blinked when Barry pulled away and smiled sunnily. "I've never tried to kiss someone quiet. Kinda like it."

"Rude." Leonard's voice didn't carry any heat, though, and he shook his head. "This isn't gonna work out."

"It's working out right now," Barry pointed out. "I know who you are, Len. I know what you've done. I'm not some naive kid who thinks every day is gonna be perfect." Leonard snorted at that, and Barry raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, not _that_ naive. Look, Caitlin and Cisco already know. Maybe in a month or two, we can see if you and Joe can be in the same room without anyone pulling a gun. I think it's worth a try. I want to try." 

Leonard searched Barry's eyes for any change, any chink in his determination, but Barry looked back and when Leonard continued staring, reached up and curled his hand around the back of Leonard's neck.

Goosebumps prickled over Leonard's skin, and he knew. He could have other adventures, steal priceless artifacts, but he would never get another chance like this. He swallowed and raised his hand, his fingertips gliding against Barry's wrist as he pulled Barry's hand from the back of his neck. "Thought you were gonna buy me coffee first."

Barry raised his chin haughtily, but his attempt at snobbery was spoiled by the way he had to keep fighting the smile that threatened to break over his face. "Shouldn't you be the one buying coffee?"

"I'm am unemployed old man. How dare you."

"Oh, well, since you put it _that_ way." Barry reached for Leonard's hand shyly, interlacing their fingers, and started walking again, tugging Leonard along with him. "It's my duty as a civil servant to take care of our elderly."

"Smart ass."

"Hey, you started it." The cafe came into view a few minutes later, and Barry grinned, looking over at Leonard and pulling him along.

Leonard couldn't help but follow.

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> A brief guide to the characters and their fairy tale archetypes:
> 
> Barry - the boy who didn't know fear  
> Leonard - The Little Mermaid  
> Cisco - a pretty, pretty princess  
> Caitlin - The Snow Queen  
> Lisa - Rumplestiltskin  
> Hartley - Pied Piper  
> Shawna - The Gingerbread (Wo)Man  
> Mardon - Big Bad Wolf  
> Joe - The Huntsman  
> Iris - Prince Charming  
> Wally - the lucky Jack of all Trades

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Untold [the word for word remix]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11678034) by [litra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra)




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